Description
Tall, but not overly so, this cloaked man nevertheless cuts an imposing figure. Filling a greater space then his body would imply, in a crowd his veiled form is given a wide birth. Cloaked from head-to-toe in fine draping robes, their condition is uncanny given his innumerable treks across the sands. In spite of the heat, the desert, and the weather they look as though they were spun only yesterday. What lies beneath his robes is an equal mystery.
Veiled and hidden, not even a stray hair is spotted flying from beneath his garments. The only part of him that has been seen by the common folk are his hands. Hidden beneath long sleeves that hang nearly to the ground, when they are shown they are a blue-white, unnatural color. They end in long black nails looking like sculpted onyx. His voice tells very little else. Taciturn, walking the sands in silence, he speaks only in a whisper with an accent of Mekhem that does not seem to come from anywhere. An odd mishmash of different accents, the only thing that can be said is that he is well traveled and used to speaking other languages.
Reputation
Hakim El-Jinn has been called many names by the many people of the Burning Sands. To the Ra'shari he is called Chakham El-Malak, “the wise spirit.” The Senpet before their fall used to call him Saret, “the sage.” And the Ashalan call him Sai'hu ibin Jashir, “Child of Celestial Knowledge.” But to the people of the Jewel he has always been known as El-Hakim, “The Wise”, or Hakim El-Jinn “The wise jinn” or just “Hakim the Jinn.” More myth than man at this point, the whispers of his name echo in the shadows of the Jewel and around Ra'shari camp fires. They say he is a powerful jinn who walks the sands offering sage council and power to those in need. Depending on the people the myths and legends surrounding him differ.
Assassins: The assassins speak of Hakim El-Jinn with a suspicious, but respectful air. To the Qadi he is all but unknown, but to the True Sons and Daughters of the Mountain he has been a powerful and knowledgeable ally. According to stories, Hakim El-Jinn led the rebellious True Daughters into the hidden places of the Jewel or spirited them into the sands to save them from reprisal after the Assassins' inner war. He saved many from reprisal by the Qadi and Qadaam, while sharing with them secrets of their ancient history. Some even whisper that it was Hakim El-Jinn that guided them to the hidden mountain where they found the abandoned fortress of the Old Man of the Mountain.
Qabal: Any student of the Qabal has heard the name Hakim El-Jinn. Said to once be a Qabbalist sahir of great power called Mehtab El-Hakim, the Masters now curse his name. The exact reason why is unknown to most adepts, but what is known is he remains a firm enemy of the council. Still, those not on the council return from excavations in the Sands with tales of the sahir's power and aid, his cryptic words, and warnings about the Masters. He tells these students that a great darkness rises from the Masters who's power has waned and politicking has blinded them to the danger they are in.
Ra'shari: It is said that El-Hakim got his name from the Ra'shari (Chakham translating into Mekhet as Hakim), and all Ra'shari have heard the tales at one time or another. They speak of a veiled jinn who comes and goes from each of the caravans. He never asks for anything, eats nothing, and disappears back into the sands from whence he came. In his wake he leaves sage words and wise council. He is respected by many a caravan master who have met with the desert sage and spoken with him at length. Some say he was even waiting at the hidden oasis when the Caravan of Mysticism convened its unprecedented meeting. He is said to have counciled each of the great caravans, and is welcome at any Ra'shari circle.
Senpet: Saret, as he is called among the Senpet, is a mysterious and elusive figure. Some whisper that he was the one who guided the Senpet to Medinaat al'Salaam when the rebels had to flee the empire. Others say he is an immortal who knows the secrets of the Ten Thousand Gods. Yet, others say he is nothing more than a myth. Whatever the case Hakim El-Jinn is known to many Senpet as one who would see their empire return and their mystic power restored to them in full. In the deepest shadows and in the hushest whispers some Senpet believe he is a Khadi priest of the old gods, but even if it were true few know whether that is good or ill.
Origins
The story of Mehtab ibin Jashir, to be later known as Hakim El-Jinn (“Hakim the Jinn" or simply Hakim, meaning "Sage”), is one that predates his birth by well over three millenia, during the time when the gods were young and the races of the sands still dwelt in verdant splendor. Before the Day of Wrath, Mehtab’s father, Jashir, basked in the glory of heaven, a servant of Shilah and the god Kaleem. He rode winds as Jinn of Heavenly Wisdom, dispensing the knowledge of heaven to the chosen. A powerful being, he was a favored son of the Moon, but also a precocious and sensitive child of heaven. When the jinn lord Kaleem rebelled against the Sun and Moon, Jashir did not join him. He stood in the court of heaven, confused and dismayed by the sudden loss of the Sun and Moon. Even with his great magical power he could not hope to best Lord Kaleem, and so he was forced to watch as the rebellious jinn terrorized the mortal races.
Though his heart ached for the humble efforts of humans and Ashalan, he did nothing. Without the guiding hand of heaven he was adrift in uncertainty. Eventually it became too much and setting the stars in the sky, he guided the mortals to some of the most precious secrets in heaven, the Seal. When the Ashalan discovered the Seal and released Lady Sun from her prison, Mehtab’s father, likewise felt pain for those innocents destroyed in Shilah’s fury. He pleaded with the Sun to stop and while eventually his pleas caused her to relent, he was not spared her fury. In spite of his good intentions, he had gone against the will of Heaven, meting out its secrets to unworthy beings. Along with all other jinn he was banished from the world. It was a small mercy, not destroying him outright, but it was a harsh blow to the obedient child of Sun and Moon.
Over the centuries Jashir was summoned into the decimated Burning Sands to impart knowledge or work some great miracle. It was nearly a millennia before the Ashalan finally summoned him. Rather than ask a service of him, they offered to hide his essence in humans, to protect them when the time came and jinn lord Kaleem was freed from his prison. Jashir agreed readily, fond as he was for the mortal races. Hidden in his descendents for millennia, on the Day of Awakening, he burst from his host and sought battle against the rebel jinn. Jashir, keeper of the Seal and master of magic, was a formidable opponent, and while he brought victory with him wherever he went, he could not stop Kaleem’s onslaught alone. When at last the mortals learned to destroy jinn Jashir was both amazed and appalled. Such knowledge had been hidden from him by the Sun and Moon, and that worried him, fearing it stemmed from a dark power.
Wary at the newfound power, he sought out Mehtab’s mother. A Qabal summoner of no particular power, he seduced her in hopes of begetting a child. Placing a portion of himself into the child, he would continue the cycle started millennia ago. He would lay dormant in his descendents until whatever dark power might still lurk in the world finally showed itself. What was born, however, was unexpected. Inhuman, it bore the exotic and telling features of a jinn. Azure hair, tinted skin, pointed ears and white eyes, he could not be mistaken for anything other then a jinn-born. Were she not a sahir of the Qabal her jinn-skinned son might have simply been thrown from a cliff or left to the desert. The Qabal, however, were pragmatic and practical, even more then they once were.
Given to one of their powerful summoners, a desert hermit named Rajishid, Mehtab was taught many mysteries of the world. Kept away from the eyes of Medinaat al-Salaam, the deformed child was allowed a semblance of normalcy. Of course this could not always be the case. Forced to return to the Jewel of the Desert after the death of Rajishid, Mehtab found himself ridiculed and despised. Though his father and many jinn-born fought for the lives of humans, his features seemed only to remind people of their attackers from Kaleel’s Legion.
Walker in the Wastes
Cloaked constantly from head to toe, Mehtab finished his last year of training within the walls of Medinaat al-Salaam. He was powerful in the ways of the elements, and mastered their lessens before leaving the Qabal once more for the desert. It would be another ten years before he would step foot in the Jewel of the Desert. For those ten years he learned more then most, traveling from one corner of the Burning Sands to another. With others he delved into long forgotten tombs seeking knowledge unknown since the centuries just after the Day of Wrath. For months or even years at a time he wondered the desert in the guise of a fox or a hawk or a mouse. He lived as a feature of the sands, and with the motion of the dunes he travels the far reaches. He was a frequent companion to Ra’Shari caravans, and it was the nomads that named Mehtab “The Wise.” The name was upheld by the Senpet who met him as he plumbed the depths of their papyrus scrolls, pouring over hieroglyphs that even some of the Senpet no longer understood.
City of 1000 Tales
He become a legend to the Qabal, but with his lack of interest in such matters, his fame is often short lived, fading from memory until he once again returned from a year long trek into the barren wastes. He did just that when he heard rumor about the slaughter at the gates of Medinaat al-Salaam. With rumors about immortality and ancient secrets, he could not help but be drawn back, but to what purpose? El-Hakim had no interest in the secret of immortality, but as a traditionalist, in spite of his nomadic ways, he feared what others might do with such a secret.
So he sought the truth of these rumors. Determined to take the knowledge into the desert, he was set to see this secret bearing scroll buried in one of the long forgotten places of the Sands. Seeking the scroll he found it well guarded and with no ability to gain it himself, he used it to set the Qabal further against one another. Leaving the secrets of the scroll to his former masters he severed ties to seek out the Ashalan in the deep desert. However, It was the Ashalan who found him. Studying with them, training his mind and body, he returned to Medinaat al-Salaam with a mysterious agenda.
The Myth and the Burning Jewel After his disappearance into the Sand, his name began to spread, at first among the dark corners of Medinaat al'Salaam. It would be the Assassins who heard it first and it was much to their surprise when the jinn-born sahir found the True Daughters and offered them his support in the days leading up to what would be known as the Burning Jewel. When the assassins were divided and the True Daughters unsuccessful in their coup, Hakim helped hide them away and gave them secret knowledge of the Jewel to see that their rebellion stayed alive.
In the years since the onset of the Third Age, the rumors of his involvement in the Jewel have taken on a life of their own. Many are true, others are exaggerations, and others are outright fabrications. What is not in doubt is that Hakim El-Jinn has been at every major shift in the powers of the Sands, and now returns to Medinaat al-Salaam, which can only harbinger a time of upheaval. Since his last time in the Jewel, Hakim has cultivated those ties with the nations of the sands, traveling with the Ra'shari, concealing the Assassins, and even aiding the Qabal.
But his ends remain clouded from view. He tells the Ra'Shari caravan masters of secrets to be gained from their homeland, but encourages them to not remain there. He speaks of a new chronicle that must be started, but none can seem to understand what he means. He has watched carefully as the Book of the Dead is passed from Senpet to Senpet waiting for a time to awaken the long dormant mysticism of the ancient empire. He would see the Khadi reborn, but knows that the time may not yet be right for the Senpet to reclaim their birthright. He councils the rebel True Daughters, warning them of the dark bargains the Qadaam have made. He encourages them to return to the ancient ways, and gives them hidden desert strongholds from which to grow strong. He would see them usurp the Qadaam and excise themselves from the Qadi, to become the true Hashashin of old.
Meanwhile, he seemingly taunts the Qabal, but to what end? He denounces the masters and leaves their graces, yet gives them the power of the hidden manuscript. He gives them hints of secret places in the Sands and even helps young Qabbalists sent to retrieve these secrets, yet whispers to these adepts of the council's growing powerlessness. Some have whispered that perhaps Hakim El-Jinn should sit on the council, but the desert sage has shown no interest in such things.
The reason is simple, he must remain apart from the powers of the Sands. While he could give the Qabal great power once again, and fulfill some of his plans with their resources, his goals are far greater reaching. He is building myths, he is creating legends, he is creating the mysteries that will echo far into the future. Just as the Ashalan manipulated the fate of the sands during the Second Age, he has begun his machinations to manipulate the sands through the Third Age.
But to do that he must undertake one of his greatest tasks, to rebirth the power that has been missing in the Burning Sands since the Awakening. He must create a new Celestial Alliance. No longer bound to the old ways, creating Jinn-blooded vessels, he seeks to make more like himself, not merely jinn-blooded but jinn-born. Those born of man and jinn who can walk free and unbound in this world, who can bridge between the mortal and blessed realm and subtly shape the powers of the Burning Sands. Many have taken to calling the Third Age, the Age of Man. To Hakim, they are half right. Man will be the vessel for change in the new age, but there is still a place for spirits and gods as teachers and guides.
Now, as a shadow has fallen over the Jewel, the desert sage had returned to witness and educate the would-be rulers on the terrible majesty of the lands they survey. He has not yet chosen which of the powers he will support, but he senses more is at stake than a simple throne. What is decided here will have repercussions stretching deep into the future and Hakim must determine whether he must control, divert, or dam the flow of these influences. And in so doing perhaps garner new allies who would help the jinn expand their influence into the world of man.
Hakim El-Jinn
Description
Tall, but not overly so, this cloaked man nevertheless cuts an imposing figure. Filling a greater space then his body would imply, in a crowd his veiled form is given a wide birth. Cloaked from head-to-toe in fine draping robes, their condition is uncanny given his innumerable treks across the sands. In spite of the heat, the desert, and the weather they look as though they were spun only yesterday. What lies beneath his robes is an equal mystery.
Veiled and hidden, not even a stray hair is spotted flying from beneath his garments. The only part of him that has been seen by the common folk are his hands. Hidden beneath long sleeves that hang nearly to the ground, when they are shown they are a blue-white, unnatural color. They end in long black nails looking like sculpted onyx. His voice tells very little else. Taciturn, walking the sands in silence, he speaks only in a whisper with an accent of Mekhem that does not seem to come from anywhere. An odd mishmash of different accents, the only thing that can be said is that he is well traveled and used to speaking other languages.
Reputation
Hakim El-Jinn has been called many names by the many people of the Burning Sands. To the Ra'shari he is called Chakham El-Malak, “the wise spirit.” The Senpet before their fall used to call him Saret, “the sage.” And the Ashalan call him Sai'hu ibin Jashir, “Child of Celestial Knowledge.” But to the people of the Jewel he has always been known as El-Hakim, “The Wise”, or Hakim El-Jinn “The wise jinn” or just “Hakim the Jinn.” More myth than man at this point, the whispers of his name echo in the shadows of the Jewel and around Ra'shari camp fires. They say he is a powerful jinn who walks the sands offering sage council and power to those in need. Depending on the people the myths and legends surrounding him differ.
Assassins: The assassins speak of Hakim El-Jinn with a suspicious, but respectful air. To the Qadi he is all but unknown, but to the True Sons and Daughters of the Mountain he has been a powerful and knowledgeable ally. According to stories, Hakim El-Jinn led the rebellious True Daughters into the hidden places of the Jewel or spirited them into the sands to save them from reprisal after the Assassins' inner war. He saved many from reprisal by the Qadi and Qadaam, while sharing with them secrets of their ancient history. Some even whisper that it was Hakim El-Jinn that guided them to the hidden mountain where they found the abandoned fortress of the Old Man of the Mountain.
Qabal: Any student of the Qabal has heard the name Hakim El-Jinn. Said to once be a Qabbalist sahir of great power called Mehtab El-Hakim, the Masters now curse his name. The exact reason why is unknown to most adepts, but what is known is he remains a firm enemy of the council. Still, those not on the council return from excavations in the Sands with tales of the sahir's power and aid, his cryptic words, and warnings about the Masters. He tells these students that a great darkness rises from the Masters who's power has waned and politicking has blinded them to the danger they are in.
Ra'shari: It is said that El-Hakim got his name from the Ra'shari (Chakham translating into Mekhet as Hakim), and all Ra'shari have heard the tales at one time or another. They speak of a veiled jinn who comes and goes from each of the caravans. He never asks for anything, eats nothing, and disappears back into the sands from whence he came. In his wake he leaves sage words and wise council. He is respected by many a caravan master who have met with the desert sage and spoken with him at length. Some say he was even waiting at the hidden oasis when the Caravan of Mysticism convened its unprecedented meeting. He is said to have counciled each of the great caravans, and is welcome at any Ra'shari circle.
Senpet: Saret, as he is called among the Senpet, is a mysterious and elusive figure. Some whisper that he was the one who guided the Senpet to Medinaat al'Salaam when the rebels had to flee the empire. Others say he is an immortal who knows the secrets of the Ten Thousand Gods. Yet, others say he is nothing more than a myth. Whatever the case Hakim El-Jinn is known to many Senpet as one who would see their empire return and their mystic power restored to them in full. In the deepest shadows and in the hushest whispers some Senpet believe he is a Khadi priest of the old gods, but even if it were true few know whether that is good or ill.
Origins
The story of Mehtab ibin Jashir, to be later known as Hakim El-Jinn (“Hakim the Jinn" or simply Hakim, meaning "Sage”), is one that predates his birth by well over three millenia, during the time when the gods were young and the races of the sands still dwelt in verdant splendor. Before the Day of Wrath, Mehtab’s father, Jashir, basked in the glory of heaven, a servant of Shilah and the god Kaleem. He rode winds as Jinn of Heavenly Wisdom, dispensing the knowledge of heaven to the chosen. A powerful being, he was a favored son of the Moon, but also a precocious and sensitive child of heaven. When the jinn lord Kaleem rebelled against the Sun and Moon, Jashir did not join him. He stood in the court of heaven, confused and dismayed by the sudden loss of the Sun and Moon. Even with his great magical power he could not hope to best Lord Kaleem, and so he was forced to watch as the rebellious jinn terrorized the mortal races.
Though his heart ached for the humble efforts of humans and Ashalan, he did nothing. Without the guiding hand of heaven he was adrift in uncertainty. Eventually it became too much and setting the stars in the sky, he guided the mortals to some of the most precious secrets in heaven, the Seal. When the Ashalan discovered the Seal and released Lady Sun from her prison, Mehtab’s father, likewise felt pain for those innocents destroyed in Shilah’s fury. He pleaded with the Sun to stop and while eventually his pleas caused her to relent, he was not spared her fury. In spite of his good intentions, he had gone against the will of Heaven, meting out its secrets to unworthy beings. Along with all other jinn he was banished from the world. It was a small mercy, not destroying him outright, but it was a harsh blow to the obedient child of Sun and Moon.
Over the centuries Jashir was summoned into the decimated Burning Sands to impart knowledge or work some great miracle. It was nearly a millennia before the Ashalan finally summoned him. Rather than ask a service of him, they offered to hide his essence in humans, to protect them when the time came and jinn lord Kaleem was freed from his prison. Jashir agreed readily, fond as he was for the mortal races. Hidden in his descendents for millennia, on the Day of Awakening, he burst from his host and sought battle against the rebel jinn. Jashir, keeper of the Seal and master of magic, was a formidable opponent, and while he brought victory with him wherever he went, he could not stop Kaleem’s onslaught alone. When at last the mortals learned to destroy jinn Jashir was both amazed and appalled. Such knowledge had been hidden from him by the Sun and Moon, and that worried him, fearing it stemmed from a dark power.
Wary at the newfound power, he sought out Mehtab’s mother. A Qabal summoner of no particular power, he seduced her in hopes of begetting a child. Placing a portion of himself into the child, he would continue the cycle started millennia ago. He would lay dormant in his descendents until whatever dark power might still lurk in the world finally showed itself. What was born, however, was unexpected. Inhuman, it bore the exotic and telling features of a jinn. Azure hair, tinted skin, pointed ears and white eyes, he could not be mistaken for anything other then a jinn-born. Were she not a sahir of the Qabal her jinn-skinned son might have simply been thrown from a cliff or left to the desert. The Qabal, however, were pragmatic and practical, even more then they once were.
Given to one of their powerful summoners, a desert hermit named Rajishid, Mehtab was taught many mysteries of the world. Kept away from the eyes of Medinaat al-Salaam, the deformed child was allowed a semblance of normalcy. Of course this could not always be the case. Forced to return to the Jewel of the Desert after the death of Rajishid, Mehtab found himself ridiculed and despised. Though his father and many jinn-born fought for the lives of humans, his features seemed only to remind people of their attackers from Kaleel’s Legion.
Walker in the Wastes
Cloaked constantly from head to toe, Mehtab finished his last year of training within the walls of Medinaat al-Salaam. He was powerful in the ways of the elements, and mastered their lessens before leaving the Qabal once more for the desert. It would be another ten years before he would step foot in the Jewel of the Desert. For those ten years he learned more then most, traveling from one corner of the Burning Sands to another. With others he delved into long forgotten tombs seeking knowledge unknown since the centuries just after the Day of Wrath. For months or even years at a time he wondered the desert in the guise of a fox or a hawk or a mouse. He lived as a feature of the sands, and with the motion of the dunes he travels the far reaches. He was a frequent companion to Ra’Shari caravans, and it was the nomads that named Mehtab “The Wise.” The name was upheld by the Senpet who met him as he plumbed the depths of their papyrus scrolls, pouring over hieroglyphs that even some of the Senpet no longer understood.
City of 1000 Tales
He become a legend to the Qabal, but with his lack of interest in such matters, his fame is often short lived, fading from memory until he once again returned from a year long trek into the barren wastes. He did just that when he heard rumor about the slaughter at the gates of Medinaat al-Salaam. With rumors about immortality and ancient secrets, he could not help but be drawn back, but to what purpose? El-Hakim had no interest in the secret of immortality, but as a traditionalist, in spite of his nomadic ways, he feared what others might do with such a secret.
So he sought the truth of these rumors. Determined to take the knowledge into the desert, he was set to see this secret bearing scroll buried in one of the long forgotten places of the Sands. Seeking the scroll he found it well guarded and with no ability to gain it himself, he used it to set the Qabal further against one another. Leaving the secrets of the scroll to his former masters he severed ties to seek out the Ashalan in the deep desert. However, It was the Ashalan who found him. Studying with them, training his mind and body, he returned to Medinaat al-Salaam with a mysterious agenda.
The Myth and the Burning Jewel
After his disappearance into the Sand, his name began to spread, at first among the dark corners of Medinaat al'Salaam. It would be the Assassins who heard it first and it was much to their surprise when the jinn-born sahir found the True Daughters and offered them his support in the days leading up to what would be known as the Burning Jewel. When the assassins were divided and the True Daughters unsuccessful in their coup, Hakim helped hide them away and gave them secret knowledge of the Jewel to see that their rebellion stayed alive.
In the years since the onset of the Third Age, the rumors of his involvement in the Jewel have taken on a life of their own. Many are true, others are exaggerations, and others are outright fabrications. What is not in doubt is that Hakim El-Jinn has been at every major shift in the powers of the Sands, and now returns to Medinaat al-Salaam, which can only harbinger a time of upheaval. Since his last time in the Jewel, Hakim has cultivated those ties with the nations of the sands, traveling with the Ra'shari, concealing the Assassins, and even aiding the Qabal.
But his ends remain clouded from view. He tells the Ra'Shari caravan masters of secrets to be gained from their homeland, but encourages them to not remain there. He speaks of a new chronicle that must be started, but none can seem to understand what he means. He has watched carefully as the Book of the Dead is passed from Senpet to Senpet waiting for a time to awaken the long dormant mysticism of the ancient empire. He would see the Khadi reborn, but knows that the time may not yet be right for the Senpet to reclaim their birthright. He councils the rebel True Daughters, warning them of the dark bargains the Qadaam have made. He encourages them to return to the ancient ways, and gives them hidden desert strongholds from which to grow strong. He would see them usurp the Qadaam and excise themselves from the Qadi, to become the true Hashashin of old.
Meanwhile, he seemingly taunts the Qabal, but to what end? He denounces the masters and leaves their graces, yet gives them the power of the hidden manuscript. He gives them hints of secret places in the Sands and even helps young Qabbalists sent to retrieve these secrets, yet whispers to these adepts of the council's growing powerlessness. Some have whispered that perhaps Hakim El-Jinn should sit on the council, but the desert sage has shown no interest in such things.
The reason is simple, he must remain apart from the powers of the Sands. While he could give the Qabal great power once again, and fulfill some of his plans with their resources, his goals are far greater reaching. He is building myths, he is creating legends, he is creating the mysteries that will echo far into the future. Just as the Ashalan manipulated the fate of the sands during the Second Age, he has begun his machinations to manipulate the sands through the Third Age.
But to do that he must undertake one of his greatest tasks, to rebirth the power that has been missing in the Burning Sands since the Awakening. He must create a new Celestial Alliance. No longer bound to the old ways, creating Jinn-blooded vessels, he seeks to make more like himself, not merely jinn-blooded but jinn-born. Those born of man and jinn who can walk free and unbound in this world, who can bridge between the mortal and blessed realm and subtly shape the powers of the Burning Sands. Many have taken to calling the Third Age, the Age of Man. To Hakim, they are half right. Man will be the vessel for change in the new age, but there is still a place for spirits and gods as teachers and guides.
Now, as a shadow has fallen over the Jewel, the desert sage had returned to witness and educate the would-be rulers on the terrible majesty of the lands they survey. He has not yet chosen which of the powers he will support, but he senses more is at stake than a simple throne. What is decided here will have repercussions stretching deep into the future and Hakim must determine whether he must control, divert, or dam the flow of these influences. And in so doing perhaps garner new allies who would help the jinn expand their influence into the world of man.